Mortals
by LittleMaple
Summary: Arthur Kirkland needs to go to a place known as Abandoned Kingdom. Unfortunately, it's too far away and too dangerous for him to go on his own. Alfred Jones wants to go to the Abandoned Kingdom to save a princess and would appreciate some company. Fortunately, he finds a guy who's willing to pay for it. Fantasy!AU
1. Chapter 1

Notes: free time and boredom made me translate one of my Portuguese fanfics, so here we are. This is going to be four chapters long. Please enjoy!

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><p>The tavern was crowded, and even though Arthur opened the door noisily, nobody seemed to care enough to even take a glance at the outsider – as he thought things would happen.<p>

People assembled at wooden tables. They were chatting and laughing loudly. And Arthur was delighted to find out that most of them had some kind of weapon within reach, such as swords, fire guns, daggers, bow and arrows… Since they weren't even close to the frontier, Arthur assumed that tavern was some meeting point for adventurers.

Despite the place's not so good smell (mostly sweat and alcohol, but also wet earth and maybe rare meat, he wasn't sure), Arthur smirked. He was sure he'd find someone there who could escort him to the Abandoned Kingdom.

Arthur walked in and the door closed behind his cloaked figure, which even standing there didn't get the attention from more than three people. He glanced at an empty table somewhat in the middle of the tavern and approached it. He sighed while climbing first a chair, then the table itself, and stood there for a few seconds, waiting to see if he would get people's attention then, but still only a couple people seemed interested in him.

Arthur couldn't help but feel a bit upset that someone wearing an old, darkish cloak didn't draw attention in that place. But then again, most of them looked like tough warriors, and it wasn't their fault that Arthur looked like a scrawny teenager who wasn't as tall as a cloaked figure should be to catch everyone's attention and respect.

In fact, wearing a cloak that was longer than himself to the point it touched so much the ground made him look like child who stole his father's clothes and went out to play (which wasn't a lie entirely, considering that piece of clothing _did_ belong to his father). He sighed again while thinking that he knew one or two magic spells that could make all those people respect him, but unfortunately his condition didn't allow him to do such thing.

In theory, he was a genius – he had memorized and read about so many spells and hexes. In practice, though, Arthur was indeed a child trying spells way too advanced for his age – in vain, of course.

"Excuse me…" he called, but his voice sounded funny. After clearing his throat, Arthur repeated, now a bit louder, "Excuse me!" he felt silly, standing there on a table, literally begging for attention. But what else could he do? Luckily the charm in his hood prevented anybody to see his face.

Many faces turned to see him, but not all of them. And Arthur didn't climb in a table to be ignored by a bunch of (probably) drunk fellows. He rolled his eyes, what nobody saw because of the hood, and took in his hand a leather pouch that had been tied to his belt.

Those pouches were quite common, considering their magical properties which allowed bigger stuff to be carried in them, such as books, clothes and food. The fact that it was illegal to steal them was an extra point for their popularity, and almost everyone had one of those.

Arthur was about to lose his audience when he put his arm inside the pouch and took a bigger pouch out of it. This new pouch didn't have any magical properties and was made of cloth, but the sound of coins it made didn't pass unnoticed by the people when Arthur slightly shook it.

The sound of money silenced those who were paying attention to the weirdo on a table, and those who weren't became aware of the sudden silence and noticed it as well. Finally, Arthur had everyone's attention, even the bartender's.

First, he smiled to himself. Then, he did his best to keep his voice in a stable tune, "Right, I'm going straight to the point." and for dramatic reasons, he left his words in the air for a few seconds before proceeding his speech. "I have been traveling around for a while, usually following the roads outside the frontiers, but once I arrived this Kingdom I've been looking for a skilled, audacious warrior who would take the risk to go on a journey much farther away than this Kingdom's frontiers and roads, to…" Arthur kept reciting his speech for a few minutes, but it sounded so saturated to his own ears that he was having some trouble faking an excited tone, the words coming mechanically out of his mouth, his expression almost bored (again, luckily nobody could see it). He had already been to some other taverns looking for a volunteer (who would get a pouch of gold coins after the job was done), but he hadn't been lucky about that yet.

He was hoping he would finally find someone because honestly, he was getting tired. Arthur used to think that a well prepared speech would bring him the luck he needed, but now by the look of boredom on everyone's face it was clearly he wouldn't go anywhere. After a sigh, he decided to let those memorized words behind and actually go straight to the point, "… Anyway, I'll give this pouch full of gold coins to any warrior who would be interested in escorting me to a place nearby the Abandoned Kingdom, which I believe most of you have heard about… I, of course, intent on using a Cursed Contract, therefore I…" Arthur trailed off as he noticed how people started to mumble to themselves and look around as if they were looking for someone. Finally, most of them were facing a table by a corner.

Arthur followed their gazes and found himself looking to a small group: a lady playing with a knife, a big guy flipping pages in a book, another lady who looked bored and a smiling young man. This last fellow had a full beer glass in his hand, and got up as soon as he realized everyone's eyes on him. He quickly raised his glass in Arthur's direction, spitting a bit of his beer on the ground while doing so.

"What a lucky coincidence!" he said, still smiling, "You see, I was planning for a while now to go on an adventure to the Abandoned Kingdom to find out if the legends of the enchanted princess are true, and if they are, rescue her and destroy those ruins that have trapped her!" the man talked loudly and excitedly, and a few people of the table beside his patted his back while almost everyone in the room cheered. They seemed to like the guy, but Arthur noticed how one of the ladies in his own table rolled her eyes. He continued, "I was planning on doing it alone anyway, you know, since my friends here refuse to go with me!" he pointed to the people on his table, "So to get someone to travel with me and still be paid for it?! Gosh, what a lucky day!".

There were more cheers and laughs. While they talked to themselves too loud Arthur couldn't distinguish their words, Arthur studied the smiling man. For a guy saying such big things, he wore a simple outfit: one of those common, thermal, dark blue long sleeve shirts (Arthur was betting that he was wearing one dragon scale vest under it, though), black pants filled with pockets, and boots. He had his leather pouch in his belt as well, but also carried a sheath, in which the sword hilt, embedded with some bluish gems, was visible. In his neck, Arthur saw a protection amulet shaped as a star, which reminded him of his unfortunately lost in a gambling one (his was shaped as a four leaf clover). In his head, on his dirty blond hair, rested a pair of goggles (one of its lenses was green, and the other was red). After checking out his clothing, Arthur tried to read his expression. From what he could see (his bright smile, his stunning blue eyes), Arthur guessed he was no older than twenty five. Adding what he had said to what he looked like, Arthur concluded he was really naïve.

However, nobody seemed to be alarmed by his words, so he probably was competent enough for the job. Arthur couldn't help but to feel a little curious and amazed about the guy.

With a smirk that nobody saw, Arthur asked, "So, what's your name, lucky young man?"

With a bright smile to everyone, the young man replied, "I'm Alfred Jones, most known as Alfred, the hero!"

"I've never heard of it anywhere" Arthur said under his breath while nodding as if he _had_ heard of that name before. "And Mister Hero would be willing to sign a Cursed Contract?" Arthur put the gold pouch back inside his leather pouch, noticing how most faces that were looking his way seemed to suddenly lose interest in him, and took from it a parchment roll that unfolded itself when Arthur held it up, exposing a nineteen inch long text written in red ink.

Alfred shrugged, sipped his beer, put the glass on the table and gave a few small coins to the bored looking lady before walking towards the table, in which Arthur was still standing on.

"Sure, why not? The only one who has something to lose here is you, _sir_", Alfred laughed while referring to the pouch full of gold coins he was going to get from the cloaked guy.

"We'll see" Arthur replied. He descended from the table and offered the parchment to the hero, noticing how the guy was a little bit taller than him. "Very well, here it is."

Alfred took the contract, being witnessed curiously for practically everyone, and read the red words to himself. They stated that he should take Arthur Kirkland (after reading the name Alfred looked up for a few seconds, concluding that that must be the cloaked guy's name and then kept reading) safely to the gate of the Abandoned Kingdom, and from the moment the contract was signed they shouldn't intentionally be more than five hundred meters apart from each other, for in such distance it would be impossible to guarantee Kirkland's safety from monsters, foes and etc. Also, when possible, Kirkland was to help the signer (i.e. gathering supplies, helping to heal injuries, protecting camps with incantations when necessary). Any failure to comply the contract was to result in death by internal bleeding.

"Fair enough", Alfred nodded, giving Arthur a small smile. He looked around quickly and reached the nearest knife he could find, made a small cut in his left thumb, then pressing his thumb against the designated space. When he removed his finger, the ink became blue.

Arthur watched in certain shock. He wasn't counting that the guy would just sign the contract without asking any questions beforehand. Arthur looked around to see most people returning to their previous activities, which include drinking and laughing. He then directed his gaze to the people at Jones' previous table, and managed the read the words "Look, he's doing it again", from the guy's lips, and assumed Jones might usually sign cursed contracts without thinking twice. He was indeed naïve.

But when Alfred offered him the parchment and the knife, Arthur took it. He cut his forefinger and let the parchment absorb his blood just like Jones had done, and by doing so, the ink went back to its original color. With the contract signed, Arthur rolled the parchment and saved it in his pouch.

"Very well." He sighed, moving a few steps towards the tavern's door, "Let's get going." He wasn't exactly in a hurry, but since Jones had already signed the contract, why not starting to move already? The journey would be long, and as soon as it was finished for good, the best.

"Wait, _now_?" Alfred raised his brows, "We're not even having a beer and discussing our plans and routes?" he talked loudly, and some people started to pay attention on them once more.

"_Of course_ we are going to discuss our plan and routes, but not _here._" he rolled his eyes and was glad nobody could see it, since those listening didn't look like they liked Arthur's tone of voice, "We've got to buy maps and supplies. The next train to the frontier departs tomorrow noon, and I don't plan on losing it. We can speak about our journey at a hotel or on the train. Shall we go?" he reached the door and left the tavern, don't even bothering to wait for Jones.

They had signed a Cursed Contract. Disobeying the stipulations would result in death. Alfred would have to follow him. Arthur's action to leave was for the sake of the journey, so by staying Alfred would be the one breaking the rules.

And because Alfred was aware of that, he hurried up on saying goodbye to his pals. He reached the door and opened it, but before leaving he still said to everyone, "I'll be back within weeks, and when I'm back, I'm paying a round for everyone here today!"

All cheered, some even clapped and a few wished the young man good luck. A few seconds later he was gone, running to catch up with Arthur.


	2. Alfred, the hero

It was Alfred's nature to be optimistic, energetic and talkative.

Arthur's condition made him a reserved person.

So of course during their shopping for supplies, Alfred was responsible for most of the talking.

Alfred talked, Arthur listened and bought what they might need. Of course they could buy those things in the frontier where they would have more variety, but here the prices were cheaper and plus, it was always better to already have in hand the most important items, like food cans, blankets, medicinal herbs and a few maps.

Arthur was used to travel on his own, and usually when he talked to someone it was never for chitchat – he asked what he wanted to know, he paid for information if he had to, and that was all. So when Alfred started talking, Arthur started paying attention on him, because he assumed Alfred would be saying relevant things.

But no.

In the narrow and cluttered streets, in shops and tents, Arthur heard much more than required about Alfred Jones' life. He heard tales about a twelve years old Alfred happily swinging around his new enchanted sword, about his parents, who were important and famous in that Kingdom, who always encouraged their son to also be responsible for unique achievements and let his name engraved in history. He heard about how much Alfred always liked to go hiking in the woods and fields and to help whoever needed assistance.

Because Arthur now and then would make a hum, a small question or a sarcastic note, Alfred kept talking, and proudly told him that as soon as he had turned the required age, his mother enchanted a sword for him so he would easily win battles, and he practiced almost tirelessly even since – he said that when he turned eighteen he hurried to take the Test and got his Warrior Mark in his first try, which was something to be proud of, since the Tests were getting harder every year. Alfred then grinned and insisted in showing Arthur the Mark in his right wrist.

"… You know, and because I devoted all my time practicing with my sword, I didn't have much time to try to learn wizardry, so I didn't even bother to take the Test for the Wizard Mark. I mean, it's not like I need it, because while I have my sword and my protection amulet I have everything I need to be a famous hero and make everyone remember not only my name, but my actions for all eternity!" Alfred kept babbling and grinning so full of himself that Arthur had to gulp the small amount of envy he felt.

Alfred was so young and naïve…

Still hooded, Arthur smirked. He suggested then, faking an innocent tone, "If you want so much to make people remember you for eternity, why don't you just learn more about sorcery and cast an immortality spell?"

Feeling outraged, Alfred even stopped walking, "How _dare_ you say something like that? I just said I want to be remembered as a hero! Those immortality spells are forbidden, and only a villain would even _think_ about doing it!"

Arthur couldn't help but laugh, "It was just a joke, you don't need to be so resentful."

"Please don't joke ever again, then. Jeez, you suck." Alfred mumbled.

They walked a few meters in silence, Alfred still looking irritated about the joke, Arthur don't making any effort to lighten the mood between them.

Arthur took those few minutes of silence to think about what he'd said. It was a joke and immortality was certainly a dreadful thing to desire, but… Arthur wondered if Alfred knew why. He even thought about actually asking but decided it wasn't a good idea to keep talking about that in the middle of the street. Their conversation could be overheard and they would be in trouble.

Because of all the places Arthur had went he himself overheard lots of explanations of _why_ such spells were considered so terrible. Some people just said that only terrible people looked for such immortality. Others said that the spell was dreadful because it would transform the purest of men in the cruelest of beasts. And a few would just look terrified and yell 'Because it is!'

Nobody seemed interested in looking for concrete facts. Nobody seemed interested in encourage them to.

Arthur, though, knew the truth, the facts. Well… At least he knew the truth of a very old journal he found in his sister's chamber, long ago. The journal had belonged to someone claiming to be immortal (Arthur didn't like to think _where_ his sister had got that from), and it mostly was about this person's desire to become a 'leader of mankind'. According to the journal, at that time many people had learned the secret for a successful immortality spell, performed it, utilized their long lives searching for knowledge and fought each other to see who would take the rule over the mortals.

The writer constantly claimed that _he_ would 'obviously' be the leader, detailing how strong and smart he was, who he had cursed and who his next targets were, however the last entry was about an apparently common day and ended abruptly as if he was forced to stop writing.

Fortunately for Arthur's curiosity, his sister had gathered more notes, letters and pages from other journals and books inside that journal, so Arthur could understand what happened after the last entry.

Apparently that guy was really strong and smart, but another immortal guy had managed to be stronger and smarter than all of them. His name was Yao, and his thirst for knowledge helped him to create a way to take the immortality from someone thus killing them.

Little by little, that was what he did, and soon enough he was the only human being older than one hundred years old alive.

Although he looked young, Yao was really old and really tired. He stated that he didn't want to rule the world, but then again he didn't think it was fair that a small number of people kept killing hundreds of others to gain something as vile as living forever and trying to impose their wills upon the whole world.

Hundreds of lives were necessary as an ingredient for the spell, and it was indeed a terrible thing. So Yao, using the power that he now had, decreed immortality forbidden, helped his favorite leaders to create and take care of Kingdoms and was proclaimed Emperor, creating acts and laws always he understood it was necessary to keep people under control.

His biggest action was the creation of the Global Court of Sorcery and Combat (G.C.S.C.), which made obligatory for every single person – no exceptions – who wished to learn wizardry and/or to use any kind of weapon to do a capability Test and, if approved, to be Marked. The Marks were similar to Cursed Contracts – that is, disobeying the rules meant death – but they were small, dark tattoos people had on their wrists.

The Warrior Mark was placed on the right wrist, and prevented one from using any kind of weapon against any human (foe or not) in order to kill – exception being previously authorized duels.

The Wizard Mark was placed on the left wrist and prevented one from using magic in order to kill and injure.

Nowadays Yao didn't interfere in political and scientific issues in almost any Kingdom, and they were free to have their own beliefs, however the G.C.S.C. changed many aspects of everyday life – for instance, stickups didn't happen anymore, because to have a firegun one would have to be Marked, and being Marked one couldn't use weapons against other people.

It also changed the way Kingdoms would fight for territory – many Kingdoms were genetically modifying wild creatures (making them more deadly) and making them kill one another in the name of their Kingdoms. Here and there, though, a few of those creatures would escape to free lands and reproduce there, letting those lands more enjoyable for hunters and adventurers.

So, Arthur understood Alfred's point that immortality was a villain's wish, after all to get it, it would be required to sacrifice hundreds of people, and who knows what else was necessary.

Arthur only believed it would be fairer for people to know the sources of that 'immortality is bad' argument, instead of just cultivating mystifications and erasing history.

"Arthur!" Alfred called once more, poking Arthur's shoulder to draw his attention, "Hello, are you there? I asked if you want an apple!"

"Oh" Arthur blinked. Alfred didn't sound at all upset anymore, "No, thank you, I'm not hungry" he forced himself to give Jones a small smile, but gave up when he remembered his hood wouldn't allow Jones to see it anyway.

Then he pointed ahead, "Since we already got everything we need for now, there's a hotel near the train station, and we could stay there and discuss our routes till the departure time."

Alfred took a bite of the apple he was holding, "Alright. Listen, we still have plenty of time, right, so what do you think about we walk around for a while and, I dunno, maybe go see my parents just so I can tell them I'm off?" he said forcing laughter.

"You should have thought about it _before_ signing that contract." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Nah, it's ok. Just checking. They were mad last time I just left, but I can write a letter and stuff." Alfred shrugged. Still he insisted, "They're not that far away from here, you know."

"Write the letter if you want. I'm heading to the hotel."

"Alright", Alfred sighed, biting his apple again.

He followed Arthur to the hotel, where they checked in, went to their room and Alfred wrote and sent a short letter to his parents. After that, they sat down at a table and discussed what routes they would take – Arthur stated that he wanted to avoid as much Kingdoms and roads as they could and go by the free lands. They could be much more dangerous, obviously, but at least they wouldn't have to pay any taxes nor give satisfaction to any guard.

When Arthur decided it was enough discussion for the day, they still had some hours left to rest.

While Alfred lied down to take a nap, Arthur sat on a chair to read a book.

Arthur kept his hood up all the time, and it was starting to stir Alfred's curiosity.

At eleven o'clock in the morning they left the hotel and walked to the train station. They bought tickets and got in the train, soon enough finding themselves in their cabin, sitting facing each other.

The trip to the frontier would take about three, maybe four days, depending on the weather. Arthur looked through the window and clicked his tongue. The sky was really cloudy, and a few raindrops already were hitting the window's glass.

"If it starts to rain heavily it's going to be impossible to cross the Purple Lake…" Arthur grumbled.

Alfred laughed, "Aren't you a sorcerer?"

"Well…" he crossed his arms.

"Why don't you make some spell to hold down the rain for a few days or something?" Alfred simply suggested. He never really studied wizardry, however his mother was a great sorceress and had hundreds of magic books – she even gave her son a book of basic spells when he was a kid, hoping that he would maybe grow interest in it. Alfred much preferred his sword, but he read a few pages of the book and still remembered something about climate spells and charms. He didn't remember how they worked and neither what was needed for them, though, but even if he remembered he wouldn't dare and try something like that since he didn't own the Wizard Mark.

"I'm not good when it comes to weather spells…" Arthur muttered "If I was, don't you think I'd have done something already?"

"But some of them are in basic spell books, they seem to be easy."

"If they're so easy, do one yourself!" Arthur huffed angrily.

"Hey, jeez, it was just a comment!" Alfred raised his hands to his chest in surrender. "I don't know much about magic and I can't use it anyway, I was just…"

"So don't try to sound like you can!" Arthur snapped "It's more complicated than it sounds!"

Alfred got up, pretending he hadn't listened and opened the cabin's door, "I'll try to find someone on the train who is good with weather spells, then", he said, not waiting for a reply before leaving.

Arthur bitted his lower lip while staring the closed cabin door. He then sighed, saying to himself that he had no reasons to be so angry and anxious about Alfred. He looked down and moved away his left sleeve, lightly running his right fingers on his left wrist.

His skin was pale and soft, without any scar or Mark.

Alfred came back to the cabin a few minutes after the train started moving. He sat down on the seat in front to Arthur and stretched his arms upward.

"Done. I found this guy, Lukas, who wanted to arrive at the frontier soon too, and he told me he was already getting all he needed for the spell. Are you happy now?" Alfred said while looking at Arthur, who had taken a book from his leather pouch and was now reading it.

Without lowering the book, Arthur replied "No." he paused, then added, "But thank you."

"No problem" Alfred shrugged and looked out of the window. He wanted to talk, but Arthur didn't seem like it at the moment, so Alfred tried to give him a few minutes, since he didn't want to argue.

He stayed quiet for a while, watching the scenery he knew so well pass by. But his quietness didn't last long – Alfred wasn't used to silence and stillness and he surely didn't like it either. He liked to walk and run, to feel the wind on his face and adrenalin in his veins. He liked to hunt, to chitchat with his friends, to go out drinking even though he was usually the responsible for taking everyone home safely.

He sighed, and his eyes meet Arthur's cloaked figure. He was dressed all in dark clothes and he was so still, holding the book in front of him and hardly ever flipping a page that Alfred thought about a ghost. Alfred gulped (he hated ghosts...) and since he couldn't distract himself by watching the guy's expression – why did he have to wear that hood? – he gave up and decided to say something. Arguing would be definitely more interesting than dying of boredom.

He looked to Arthur again, trying to find a nice subject to be talked about, and his eyes found the book he was holding. It was an old-looking one, with a leather case – still, Alfred was sure it was a recent book, not even five years old yet. He knew that because the bookstores had lots of them, and when he didn't have anything better to do, he would walk around downtown and look at store windows. The book had no title, only a few weird symbols on its cover, but Alfred also knew what it was about.

"Wow! This is one of those advanced magic spell books, isn't it?" Alfred asked and got up from his seat only to take the one right on Arthur's side. "I heard they're written in code so beginners can't understand anything! Can I have a look?"

Alfred had moved a little closer – too closer for Arthur's liking, actually – in order to see the book, and Arthur tried to move away a bit, only Alfred moved closer again. Arthur sighed when he realized that if he kept moving away he would soon be smashed between the wall and Alfred, and then laid the book down to his lap, allowing Alfred to look at it.

"It _is_ written in code, you're obviously not being able to understand it." Arthur replied.

"I don't want to understand, I just want to look." Alfred smiled, his gaze analyzing some figures, running from some lines to some others, noticing how the handwriting and the paper looked so old and yet he was sure Arthur couldn't have it for more than five years. "Awesome! This only looks like a soup recipe to me."

"It _is_ a soup recipe" Arthur sighed, a bit bored, "But you must know where to look at and know what certain things are supposed to mean so you can understand how to do it. This soup helps dislocation" he explained, pointing out a few words.

"Oh… but I still only see a pea soup recipe" Alfred giggled.

"That's because you're a beginner – you'll need years of studying to be able to read this." Arthur said, and Alfred giggled again. Alfred was too giggly to Arthur's liking.

"Not even that, actually." Alfred shrugged and took the books on his hands, not noticing Arthur's wince "I don't think I'll ever start studying spells. It's too much work, and as long as I have…"

"… your sword and your protection amulet, it's enough. I know." Arthur finished the sentence before Alfred could do it himself.

After a few seconds of shock, Alfred laughed "So you were listening to me back then. I thought you weren't." he said with a smile in his face. He closed the book and handed it back to Arthur, who opened it again on the page he was reading before Alfred decided to pester him.

"When people talk, it's polite to listen", Arthur said simply.

Alfred agreed, and for almost a minute, nobody said anything. Arthur was comfortable with that silence, and very glad he would be able to go back to his reading, but Alfred had other plans, which included more talking.

"Ok, I don't get it" Alfred said "I mean, if you can understand a hard book like this, how come you have problems with easy weather spells?"

Arthur felt his face heat up, "Well…" he gulped and looked to the window, trying to avoid the question by staying quiet, but he soon came to realize that Alfred's beautiful blue eyes wouldn't move away till he replied something. "… Because… er, Why don't you carry around bow and arrows with you, or even a spear, instead of only a sword?"

"That's because I like swords much more than those!" Alfred blinked "But what does…"

"And can you handle those other weapons as well as you do with a sword?" Arthur kept asking.

"Hm… Well, not exactly…" Alfred confessed, a bit embarrassed, "But I don't need any other weapon as long as I have my sword!" smiling, he tapped his sheath lightly.

"Very well – the same goes for me and the spells!" Arthur said triumphantly.

"Uh, no, it's not the same thing at all! What's good knowing how to make pea soup for dislocations if you'll get stuck in a train for not being able to stop it from raining? I mean, at least I can fight all the same!" he raised his brows, then smiled.

Alfred's smile was truly sincere and innocent – he didn't intend to offend his companion in any way, but sometimes his tongue was faster than his brain. In fact, he wanted to get to know better the guy whose back he was supposed to watch in the following weeks.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." Arthur said huffily "So shut up."

Following this, Arthur lowered his face and stared his book, refusing to talk all day long, even after Alfred's apologies and jokes – which were indeed amusing and made Arthur feel glad Alfred couldn't see his smiles, because then he could enjoy the jokes and silly puns and still succeed on pretend he was really angry.

Eventually, Arthur forgot he was supposed to be furious and ended up replying one question Alfred made, and the atmosphere between them calmed down.

The train trip to the frontier lasted three days, and crossing the Purple Lake was no inconvenience at all – well, excluding Alfred's nausea and his comments about it at every two minutes. During the whole trip storm clouds stood in the sky, but the rain was no more than a drizzle.

Every time Arthur looked up to the sky and saw those clouds, though, he would remember his discussion with Alfred about the weather spells. Every time, he then would sigh and feel slightly anxious.

He was hopping for that journey to be quick.

Alfred wanted to save a supposedly imprisoned princess at the Abandoned Kingdom, but to be honest he had no idea how to get there – nobody he was friends with back home knew a precise path, which was something, considering he had _lots_ of friends!

If he were to go on that journey on his own, he was planning to simply go by asking strangers which roads he should take, after all some people definitely would have accurate information, right? And if he was sent to the wrong directions, he would help as much people as he could there, ask for more tips, then go back – it was great because then he would help people, they would be grateful and remember his name, so he was going to be famous really fast!

Therefore, Alfred was really surprised about the ease in which Arthur had decided what roads to take and what woods to avoid – and without consulting anyone!

Of course, they had already discussed their plans – which mean Arthur let it clear the places he wanted to avoid and they both made suggestions about routes. It's just that after a while Alfred grew bored and sleepy to looking at those maps and listening to those road names that he mostly agreed to Arthur's suggestions and decided to think about them later.

And 'later' became the moment that Arthur decisively walked to Gate Four.

On the one hand, it was easier that Arthur knew where to go – it would take so less time. But on the other hand… It was a bit suspicious. That is to say, _how_ did he know? Alfred was curious and because he didn't think he had anything to lose, he decided to ask.

"Arthur," he called "you been there? I mean, in the Abandoned Kingdom?"

Perhaps Alfred really didn't have anything to lose by asking that question to Arthur, but what he didn't take into account was the fact that they were in the middle of a crowded street, so Arthur wasn't the only one to turn around to glare at Alfred.

Arthur waited for Alfred to get a little closer before replying in a low, gruff tone, "Don't ask such things in the middle of the street, bloody hell! We're in the frontier; people don't tend to believe in stories of enchanted princess about that place around here!"

Alfred had heard a few others versions of stories about the Abandoned Kingdom, but… "I like to believe in the princess rather than about that stupid story that the Kingdom is the home of some damn immortal who managed to escape the Emperor!" Alfred said a bit irritated, but confident. The stories about the princess were much more reliable than the immortal's one. It was impossible to hide from the empire!

Arthur stared at Alfred as if he was a babysitter and Alfred was a five years old who wouldn't shut up about his imaginary friend: intrigued but a bit tired. Arthur concluded that it was no good to argue about that, at least not in the middle of the street especially now that some people were glaring at them because of the word _immortal_.

"Let's have some lunch before leaving, shall we?" Arthur sighed and pointed to the first restaurant he could spot, "We can talk about this while we eat. Your job will really start after we leave this Kingdom. The fields might be occupied with dangerous, wild creatures then you better eat properly now so you can fight properly and we can reach the next Kingdom in about three days and a night."

Alfred groaned, "Yeah, three days and a night of little sleep, lots of walking and killing beasts."

"You signed up for this, you know." Alfred grimaced and Arthur had to hold back laughter.

While they walked towards the restaurant, he continued to speak, "Besides, we're going to stay a whole day in the next Kingdom just to rest".

"That's great. And we're staying at a nice hotel, right?" Alfred said.

When they reached the restaurant's door, Arthur opened it for Alfred, who nodded in thanks and walked in, being then followed by Arthur.

They looked around for a table, Alfred asking to sit at a table practically in the center of the establishment where he could see everyone around him – and where everyone could see him, too, however Arthur insisted for a table by the corner window where they could see the street and some people inside the restaurant as well, but where it would be difficult for them to be heard.

Arthur liked the place's atmosphere: it was wide and well lit, there were landscapes paintings on the light green walls, the tablecloths were white and had roses embroidered on them, the chairs were really comfortable and in the background a little band played some folk music. The only thing Arthur didn't like was the fact that at the time there were very few customers there, so despite the music, it was quiet.

As soon as they sat down, a waitress came deliver the menu, and in about half an hour they already had their dishes in front of them.

Alfred was really content about his colored food – it was one of his favorite dishes – and while he gladly ate it, he couldn't not notice how Arthur disinterestedly poked the food with his fork. Or at least Alfred was guessing Arthur was disinterested, and he couldn't be sure since Arthur was still hooded.

Alfred was starting to try to guess other things, such as _why_ did Arthur was always with that hood on? Didn't he like his own appearance, like, did he think he was so ugly that he had to hide his face? Or had he somehow glued the hood there with some spell or had someone somehow hexed it there? Alfred had no idea but much imagination to keep thinking on hypotheses.

After a few minutes of Alfred talking about how much he liked that dish and a few short stories about its ingredients, Arthur brought back the subject Alfred had asked about in the street.

"Alright, Alfred." Arthur started while turning the fork in his hand, "About what you said earlier… Tell me, what do you think of immortals?"

Alfred didn't even think before replying, "They're totally evil! Well… Except the Emperor, of course."

"Is that so? Hum…" Arthur smirked to his fork, poking his food once more, "And that princess you say you're going to save, tell me about her."

Alfred smiled, but remembered to finish chewing before speaking.

"Long time ago, a nice princess was cursed by an evil witch, and she was sentenced to live forever trapped inside the Kingdom's castle. You know, then the Kingdom was abandoned because the evil witch summoned lots of creatures and obligated them to stay inside and around the place… And the poor princess can't leave the castle, and she's gonna be all alone till someday a hero – me! – goes save her!"

Arthur blinked. He was starting to adore Alfred's naivety.

"What's the witch's reason?" Arthur asked.

"What? What do you mean?" Alfred said confused, holding his water glass halfway to his mouth.

"The reason why the witch cursed the princess – what is it?"

"Duh, didn't you hear me? I just said it, the witch was evil, you know, ruthless and envious, so she was probably envy of the princess beauty and decided to get revenge because the witch herself was ugly or something." Alfred shrugged, "Since when evil people need a reason to do evil stuff?"

Arthur sighed. He thought about telling Alfred that _yes_, _evil_ people needed reasons to do _evil stuff,_ especially something like that, however he didn't say anything about it, because he didn't think Alfred would understand it easily, and Arthur wasn't in the mood to try to open Alfred's eyes for the subject.

"Alfred" he said then, "Are you aware that this princess of yours is immortal?"

"What?" Alfred gasped.

"If she was sentenced to live forever there, she's immortal. She might be trapped, but is still alive." explained calmly, as if he was talking to a child.

"No," Alfred replied stubbornly, "it's just some kind of temporary spell. Like, until someone kiss her."

"There isn't such thing." Arthur shook his head lightly.

"Of course there are temporary spells!" Alfred said quickly.

"_Of course_ there are, but not for something like immortality!" Arthur wasn't trying to hide that he was starting to get a bit annoyed about that. Of course there were temporary spells and spells that lasted until one was kissed – and temporary spells that vanished after a kiss. The thing is, it obviously wasn't the case there! It was impossible to take one's immortality with simple lip touching and exchanging saliva, not even if one of the parts was an extremely powerful wizard.

Also a bit annoyed, Alfred said, "You say these things as if you knew a lot about stuff involving immortality!"

"I myself don't know, but I know someone who does." Arthur said fast, like someone had said something untruly derogatory about him and he didn't want anybody to think they were true "I know this man who is trying to—"

Alfred gasped again, "He wants to be immortal?!" he said loudly and was visible shocked.

The hero's exclamation was too loud, and the closest people looked to him with a grimace in their faces, but also just a bit curious as well. Fortunately, the closest people were only an old couple that soon enough were talking to each other again.

"Shh!" Arthur raised his index finger in front of his face and put both his elbows on the table, talking in a lower tone, "Look, I don't know what he wants exactly, and it's not my business either. The only thing I know is that it has something to do with immortality at some level."

"And why again do you know someone who wants something like that?!" Alfred asked suspicious and worried, "You have to inform it to the Emperor!"

Arthur shook his head again, "I can't. This man has something that I desire and I could find to him a few things that he needed. So we made a deal. A cursed contract, to be specific. I can't exactly choose not to do my obligations." He sighed "And really, who do you think was paying for our little adventure?"

_You_, Alfred thought, but he didn't say it. He had more relevant things to think about at the moment. For instance, Arthur had said that he could find something that the other guy needed, and Alfred wouldn't stop thinking about what those things were – and then it hit him. What if it wasn't a _thing_, but a _person_? What if… the guy needed a strong and smart hero to use in his evil, illegal activities? What if that was why Arthur needed someone to go with him, not to protect him, but to give to the evil guy?

Alfred felt really upset with Arthur about that. Much more upset than irritated, actually, despite him getting up, his chair moving noisily and nearly falling down, and he pointing accusingly to Arthur, "You! You and your friend want to use _me_ in some kind of sacrifice thingy for your evil worships!"

This time not only the old couple but every other costumer of the place turned to look at them. They looked much more curious and startled than suspicious and angry, which was good, but Arthur couldn't help to feel embarrassed and afraid that he and Alfred would be driven out and have to explain themselves to some guards.

Still, leaving aside the customers, Alfred had such a terrified expression on his face, and Arthur wasn't used to people overreacting things around him, that he found Alfred's reaction really funny. He tried not to laugh, but failed.

"No, no! Don't be silly!" he took a deep breath to make himself stop laughing, and then explained, "You're only here because I've lost my protection amulet and I can't go back alone."

Alfred blinked, not really believing that. He knew that protection amulets couldn't be bought and only gained, and he honestly couldn't understand how someone would _lose_ one – if someone found Arthur's amulet, they couldn't use it because the amulet wouldn't recognize them as its carrier, and people were oriented to hand those lost magic objects to the Agency of Lost and Found Artifacts' officials, who would track the carrier and give it back.

"How did you lose it?" Alfred asked.

"It doesn't matter." Arthur said a bit embarrassed.

Truth was that in one of Arthur's many visits to taverns over the years, once he decided to sit down and drink – not a single glass of ale as he was used to, but drink like those man he was used to watch drink until they would need to be carried home. Soon the bartender asked him if he wanted to try their new specialty, which, Arthur found out later, was much stronger than the ones he was used to, and in about twenty minutes he entered into a card game… And lost his amulet because of gambling. He felt ridiculous about that, so he didn't like to talk about it.

"Of course it does!" Alfred insisted.

"No, it doesn't."

"But—"

"I said no!" Arthur huffed.

"... Alright, whatever." Alfred gave up – for now. He definitely would keep that in mind and ask again later. "But… Anyway, why did you decide to sign a contract with a guy like that…"

"I've told you. He has something that I desire." Arthur replied simply, and Alfred tried to think about something so important that would make someone goes against the law.

"Don't tell me that you aim immortality too!" he thought out loud and felt horrified by the idea.

"Don't be stupid" Arthur huffed again, and Alfred felt relieved.

Oh, good." Alfred sighed and tried to think again about what would be so important for Arthur that... Oh. Maybe it was _someone_, maybe the other guy was keeping imprisoned someone that Arthur loved?

Alfred even called Arthur's name to ask about that, but he had turned his face to look at the window and didn't reply. Alfred decided to wait for a couple minutes, and sat down again on his chair. He wasn't hungry anymore so he drank his water and the image of the princess that he wanted to save came in mind.

Could it be she that Arthur wanted? Nah, or he would have said something before, right? And also… _If_ she was really at the Abandoned Kingdom, it meant that she would really be immortal… Alfred swallowed hard. Immortals were evil people, but… his princess wasn't evil, was she? An evil witch had forced her to that. She didn't want to be. It was a curse. She was a victim. And even if the eternal life had made her a monster, Alfred believed that it would be possible to bring her back to normal – when he rescued her and took her to the Emperor, when he explained the situation the Emperor surely would understand and help. And then she would be a free princess, and she would feel grateful and help to make Alfred's name known, and maybe they would even like each other and marry.

When Arthur left the window alone, Alfred decided to share what he was thinking, "You know, I was thinking… I don't think my princess is evil."

Arthur was glad that they dropped the subjects about himself, "But didn't you say that all immortals were evil, except the Emperor?"

"Yeah, but, you see, the princess didn't want to be immortal, right, it was a curse." Alfred tried to explain his theory but Arthur was quick to reply:

"But she's still immortal thus evil."

"But she didn't _want to be_" Alfred insisted.

"But she is." Arthur shrugged, "If she's real, that is."

"_But_ it wasn't her fault!" Alfred said with such enthusiasm that Arthur couldn't bring himself to say anything otherwise.

"So you're saying that you would still save her, even she being evil and all?"

"Yes." The hero said without hesitation "I mean, if she was good she would listen to me and accept to go to the Emperor and…"

Arthur's laugh interrupted Alfred's speech, "Then she'd be killed. The guards would arrest you both and the Emperor would get rid of her before making any questions. He'd certainly kill you, too. Believe me, I've been to the Kingdom where he lives. I've seen people being arrested for _speaking_ the word immortality. You're lucky security is lighter here."

Alfred had never been there – his parents had, but they never said anything about arrests, only that the place was beautiful and stuff like that – so he chose to believe in Arthur, since he seemed to be speaking the truth.

But he didn't want to let his plans die, so he changed them, "Ok, ahn, ok! The princess and I could live together, I mean, if she's nice and she likes me, we could live together and when I got old we could go to the Emperor."

"... This is complete rubbish, are you listening to what you're saying?" Arthur said, trying not to laugh again. Alfred knew how to be entertaining.

"It would be love!" Alfred concluded with a smile, ignoring Arthur. He was aware of the flaws in his plans, though.

"Oh, shut up." Arthur rolled his eyes.

He took his glass to drink his water, and Alfred sighed when he realized he really couldn't see Arthur's face.

"Hey" Alfred called, "ok, but… The thing that you said you desire… Is it a _thing_ or is it _a person_?"

"It's none of your business", Arthur replied.

"Rude." Alfred said and spoke again when he found something else to ask "Ok, I asked this before and you didn't answer… Have you been to the Abandoned Kingdom before? You know I'll keep asking stuff till you reply some of them."

"Near it", Arthur decided it was a harmless question and decided to reply it, "I've met the man I was talking about near the Kingdom."

"Oh…" Alfred murmured. He was about to ask if Arthur had _seen_ his princess or even if that guy had seen her when he associated Arthur's… friend? with the other story about the immortal – the evil one, the one that wanted to be alive forever – that lived in the Kingdom. What if… that guy was already immortal? What if he lived in the Kingdom and… "Wait, are you saying that this friend of yours lives in the Kingdom?"

"Ok, first of all, he's not my friend. Keep that in mind. But who knows, he could very well be living there."

"Then… If he lives there… The princess, _my_ princess probably…" Alfred sounded very disappointed.

"You always knew it was just a rumor. You shouldn't have taken it too serious." Arthur lectured.

"Damn" Alfred murmured again. Thinking that his princess didn't even exist was so… sad. He believed in the idea of saving her for so long that he couldn't help to feel somewhat... empty. It was kind of discouraging, and he sighed.

Arthur felt just a bit sorry for Alfred, "You're so naïve, lad."

Alfred pouted, "And you talk like you're 60!"

Arthur smirked, "What if I am?" he rested his elbows on the table once more.

"I dunno, you don't _sound_ like you're that old"

"There are spells to alter one's voice." Arthur was amused to say "And even the face!"

_Says the guy who can't even make weather spells!_ Alfred thought, "Yeah, but I never saw your face, so how can I know!"

Instead of saying anything, Arthur simply raised his hand, and Alfred's heart accelerated while he thought that Arthur would take off his hood.

But he was just raising his hand to call a waiter.

"And probably never will!" Arthur laughed again, but stopped when he realized that he was laughing too much today.

"That's not fair!" it was Alfred's turn to huff, but Arthur, who was now asking for the bill to the waiter, didn't look like he cared at all.

Except that Alfred was so expressive and talkative and vibrant that, despite not wanting to, Arthur was starting to care.


End file.
